COPENHAGEN: Icelandic police have restricted access to a volcano that has been spewing out “life threatening toxic gas pollution” since it began erupting yesterday, the department of civil protection and emergency management said.
Residents of the Reykjanes peninsula, near the capital Reykjavik, have been encouraged to sleep with windows closed and to switch off ventilation, the department said in a statement on Facebook late yesterday.
“The police, after counsel from scientists, have decided to restrict access to the eruption site due to enormous and life threatening toxic gas pollution,” the department said.
“For the next hours it is highly likely that gas will build up around the eruption site due to low wind. Those who have already undertaken the hike to the eruption site, or are already there, are strongly advised to leave the area,” it said.